POLICE sources revealed 49 bags of what is believed to be heroin were found in the dad-of-three's flat - as friends said he struggled to cope with the collapse of his 12-year relationship with Mimi.

ACTOR Philip Seymour Hoffman died after spiralling into depression following his split from costume designer girlfriend Mimi O’Donnell.

The Oscar-winning star was said to be spending up to £6000 a month on heroin after relapsing into drug addiction.

And last night, police sources said 49 bags of what is believed to be heroin were found in the dad of three’s flat.

Friends said he was devastated by the collapse of his 12-year relationship.

A source said: “After Phil and Mimi split, he just couldn’t handle it.

“Gradually he became more and more of a recluse and would lock himself away for days not wanting to see anyone.

“Whenever Phil talked about his previous battles with drink and drugs he made no secret of the fact that at the time if he’d had more money he would have wound up dead.

“But after his Oscar success he became incredibly wealthy and was able to buy as much drugs as he wanted. Ultimately his fame and fortune cost him his life.

“Dealers saw Phil as easy money and he was paying over the odds for what he was using.”

Hoffman, 46, had moved out of the £2.7million family home in Manhattan after the split and was renting a £6000-a-month flat in nearby Greenwich Village.

The Capote star’s body was found there at 11.30am on Sunday by close friend and playwright David Bar Katz, who had been asked to check on him by Mimi after he failed to turn up to see his kids – 10-year-old son Cooper and daughters Tallulah, seven, and Willa, five.

He was lying on the bathroom floor wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt with a needle in his arm.

Police believe he may have died after injecting himself with a type of heroin that has claimed more than 100 lives in the US in recent months.

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They found eight empty bags stamped with Ace of Spades and Ace of Hearts in the actor’s flat, it’s claimed.

The drugs have been found to contain a lethal mix of heroin laced with fentanyl – an opiate used to soothe the pain of cancer patients.

Hoffman had previously undergone treatment for heroin use and dependency on pills but sources close to the Hollywood star said he was struggling to beat his addiction.

He was also hooked on prescription drug Oxycontin.

Last year, he fell off the wagon 23 years after quitting booze and drugs.

In May, the Hunger Games star left a clinic on the east coast of America, where he had spent 10 days being treated. He started using prescription drugs in 2012 before moving on to heroin.

Although insisting he only used the class A drug for a week, he said he realised he needed help and checked into rehab. On leaving the centre he thanked a “great group of friends” for helping him recover.